After The Snow Falls
by Ronin with a Dark Past
Summary: After the recent death of Kaoru, Kenshin takes up wandering again. The main thing on his mind is suicide. Will he go through with it, or will something manage to change his mind?
1. Pathway to her grave

Full Summary: Kenshin already felt enough sorrow and guilt from the death of Yukishiro(Himura) Tomoe, but with the added departure of his recent love, Kamiya Kaoru, the young rurouni just couldn't handle it. Himura Kenshin has made a vow not to kill though, thus he has no reason to really take revenge. So, he leaves the Kamiya Dojo and everyone there. After a few months in Rakuminmura, he has decided to go visit the grave of Tomoe in Kyoto and say farewell as he did to Kaoru when leaving Tokyo. He has decided to take up wandering again, but will end his journey quickly. Unless someone is there to stop him, the swordsman that brought in this new era, will break all ties with our world.

(A/N) Now, as you probally know, I don't like stories with happy endings. So if you're thinking that in this story Kenshin is just going to meet another girl, fall in love with her, and forget all about the past, I highly advise you go find a different story to read. You can't throw someone's life away that easily. Nothing will ever make Kenshin forget about Tomoe or Kaoru. I'm not saying he isn't going to meet another girl along the way, just that there will be no relationship between them.Hope I made that clear.

A young rurouni made his way through the crowd of people on the busy street of Kyoto and finally made it to the side, near a small Soba stand. The rurouni leaned against the wall and sighed, pushing back a strand of red hair, revealing his cross-shaped scar. He slid his sakabato behind him as a policeman walked by. "No need for this one to cause anymore chaos." he muttered along with another sigh.

He looked up at the rain that began to fall harder, it was weighing down his red kimono. He traced the scar lightly and his purple eyes grew dim with sorrow. "Tomoe...Kaoru-dono..." he whispered as both of the memories became vivid again. The rain fell down onto him and he blinked away the drops, his tears mixing in with the rain. He looked back down and closed him eyes in remorse, the memories of those moments flashing through his mind. "This one did all that to try and save you, yet you died anyway...You both did..." he whispered to himself.

He opened his eyes and looked around at the crowds of people around him. About ten feet away stood two familar people talking to the owner of one of the stands. One was a tall young man with short black hair above his ears. He had on a long tan overcoat down to his knees, the rest of his outfit was plum. A wakizashi hung at his side. The other was a girl. She had black hair as well but it was in a braid to her hips. She was wearing a blue konochi outfit with a large red ribbon tied around her waist, the bow in the back. It was Shinomori Aoshi and Makimachi Misao.

The ronin pushed himself off the wall lightly and started to leave as the two made their way toward him. "Himura! We haven't seen you in so long! Where's Kaoru and the others?" Misao cried out when she saw him and came skipping over. Aoshi followed silently behind her. Kenshin said nothing and continued to walk away. Aoshi placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around. "You could at least say hello to her." Kenshin looked up at Aoshi for a second then turned away. "This one wishes to leave now." he told them quietly while pulling out of Aoshi's grip. He kept his head lowered and walked away again.

Misao trotted up beside him. "Himura, what's wrong? You shouldn't be so gloomy. Is it because of the rain?" Kenshin made no reply and distanced himself from the two. Aoshi grabbed hold of Misao's arm as she started to catch up with him again. "Aoshi-sama, what's wrong with Himura?" The two watched him disappear into the crowd of people without him giving them as much as a glance back. "Judging by the look in his eyes, something has made him severely depressed." Misao gasped. "Something must have happend to Kaoru-san!" Aoshi turned the other way and pulled Misao along with him. "We should be returning to Aoi-ya now."

One hour later

Kenshin slowly lifted his head to see the where he had ended up and saw two pale forms in front of him. He rubbed his eyes to see if they were real. The two forms still stood there and he couldn't believe his eyes. "...Is that you Tomoe?...Kaoru-dono?" the ronin asked the images in shock. The rain was falling harder, creating a mist as it hit the dirt so he thought he was just halucinating. He reached out a hand to the girls and they disappeared. Get it together Kenshin, they're both gone. They can't come back..., he told himself sadly.

"Hello again, Battousai." a familar man greeted him. Kenshin stared at the one in front of him, his eye were dull and sorrow-filled. "Yukishiro Enishi,...you have returned to torment this one yet again?" he asked quietly, his voice hoarse. "If you truely loved my sister, you wouldn't have killed her." Enishi sneered, pushing his glasses up. "You killed Kaoru-dono..." Kenshin said, glaring slightly at Enishi. "You took my sister from me, who I loved more than anything, so I took the one who was closest to you."

Another figure then walked up a few feet behind Enishi and cleared his thoat. The rain hid him well so all you could see was his outline. "I'll return to torture you some other time. I still have business elsewhere. We aren't finished yet Battousai, so expect my return shortly." Enishi told Kenshin with a slight chuckle. He disappeared into the rain's fog, the figure following. Kenshin turned away once Enishi had completly disappeared from site and continued walking. He shut down all his sences and was just walking blindly now. The memories of the two girl's death's entered his mind and he began to relive them.

Sorry for the short chapter; I'm eager to start writing the next though. Why I don't just combine them beats me. Well, here's enough to get you started.

Till next time,

Dakota


	2. Arrival By Kanta

**..sorry it took me so long to get this up…I don't have an excuse so don't bother askin' for one…besides…I highly doubt anyone finds this worth reading. sigh Oh well…anyway…this is where the new girl comes in. Kenshin's life basically depends on her…By the way; her name is pronounced Zai-e-da….**

Kenshin stumbled forward onto the path and dropped to his knees. Tears began to swell in his eyes. "Why...why must they suffer because of this one? They did nothing to deserve this..."he muttered, slowly rising to his feet. The rain was still falling and had grown even harder. Everything more than three feet away was invisible due to the fog created from the water hitting the cold air. The rurouni pushed some strands of wet auburn hair out of his face and started walking along the dirt road again.

Even though he couldn't really see, his hearing was still as good as ever. The sound of thundering hooves began to approach and suddenly a large white, ghostly figure towered above him. It was pure white with a silver mane and tail, it's eyes a light cream color. The creature peered down at him and lowered it's head to nudge him lightly. "Kanta, stop it!" a young female's voice yelled from it's back, then the young girl swung off the horse. She was wearing a black kimono and white hakama and was about the same height as the rurouni. Her hair was solid black and went to her shoulders, a small braid on the left side.

Her eyes were blue but her right eye was hazed over. He could already tell that she was blind in that eye. "Sorry if I scared you or somethin'. Can't see anything with this damn fog." she muttered, wiping some water off her face to see better. "It's alright." Kenshin replied quietly. "What are ya doin' out here anyways?" she asked, stroking the white horse's neck while looking at Kenshin. "...This one is visiting the gravesite ahead." he replied after a while. "Oh! Me too!" the girl suddenly cried out.

"You seem rather cheerful to be visiting a grave." He commented. "It's what my father taught me. To always keep my spirits high no matter what has happened." She said happily, her hands on her hips and sporting a fake grin. She then slumped over and sighed. "I'm just tryin' to keep myself out of depression. Bad things follow when you're depressed." She said, leaning back against the horse.

"Well…it was nice meeting you." He said softly before walking past the girl and her horse. "Wait! What's your name?" she asked, walking after him. "…Himura Kenshin." He called over his shoulder after a minute. The girl swung up onto her horse's bare back and trotted up beside him. "My name's Sayda, and this here is my stallion Kanta." She called down to him, lying against the horse's neck and patting it.

Kenshin said nothing in reply and kept his head down. Kanta nickered and glanced back at his rider. "It's alright. Let's just give him some space." Sayda whispered into the horse's ear. He tossed his head lightly as if he had actually understood and took a few steps backward, putting a few feet between themselves and the rurouni.

Sayda sat up and turned around on Kanta, lying back against his neck. She looked up at the fog covered sky and closed her eyes part-way. "Sennen ni...ikkai no koi…nanta mon ja nai." She began singing softly to the rhythm created by Kanta's hooves clattering against the road. "Futari no tame…ni sora to daichi ga…ugoiteta…."

Kenshin kept his eyes ahead but listened to the girl's singing. It made him feel better having her and Kanta there, rather then him still traveling alone. He wasn't as depressed now…and the singing helped distract his thoughts. Sayda stopped and glanced over at the rurouni. "Oi…mind telling me why you decided to travel out here in the rain on foot? Where ya from anyway?"

"It wasn't raining when this one left…he didn't plan anything before hand…" Kenshin called back, still keeping his head down. "And this one comes from Kyoto." He replied a few moments later. "I'm from Edo originally but was staying in Kanda for a while training." Sayda called down, knowing that the rurouni wouldn't have bothered to ask.

"One more question, why ya always say 'this one' and all that?" she asked, swinging back around on the horse's back, and holding on to his mane. "It's natural for samurais to speak that way." He said back, glancing up at her slightly. "You're a samurai?" she asked, amazement glittering in her eyes.

He stopped and Kanta halted with him. The ronin moved aside a strand of his auburn hair to reveal his scar. Sayda's eyes widened and Kanta took a step back. "You...you're Hitokiri Battousai…" she choked out. "That name is nothing but a memory." He replied quietly before walking again.


End file.
